SINGAPORE: Singapore's rescue team have retrieved five bodies from the rubble in an earthquake-hit area in China's Sichuan province.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) extricated the five bodies from collapsed buildings in two areas of Hongbai, a town about 60 kilometres from the quake's epicentre at Wenchuan county.

Residents of Hongbai said that up to 900 of about 10,000 people in the town had died, 200 of them children.

The 55-strong DART team, who arrived in Hongbai on Saturday, are searching the rubble in 10 places. The elite search and rescue team are working with the help of sniffer dogs and ultra-sensitive sensors.

The group of specialists believe that their extensive experience in disaster areas could result in rescues six days after China's worst earthquake in 30 years.

"As long as people are waiting to be rescued, it's possible," said Bob Tan, a press officer for the unit. "Miracles do happen, that's why we never give up hope."

The Singapore team are one of foreign rescue crews providing help after Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake in the southwestern region of China. Other foreign workers allowed in to help the rescue effort include those from Japan, Russia and South Korea. Teams also came from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The death toll from the massive quake continued to climb as authorities cleared their way through pulverised towns and gained better access to isolated areas -- revealing a clearer picture of the full scale of the horror.

The government raised the confirmed death toll by more than 6,000 to 28,881. But many expect the eventual figure could surpass the government's estimate of more than 50,000. - CNA/ir